


In the Bleak Midwinter

by kalirush



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist
Genre: Candles, Community: fmagiftexchange, Dinner, Families of Choice, Gen, Holidays, Pre-Canon, Winter Solstice, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-16
Updated: 2013-01-16
Packaged: 2017-11-25 16:32:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/640893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kalirush/pseuds/kalirush
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Most of Mustang's squad have nowhere to spend the winter holidays. Falman invites them to spend the evening with him and his family.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In the Bleak Midwinter

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Catw00man](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Catw00man/gifts).



> Done for the prompt: "I'm wondering how people enjoy the winter holiday season. This could be about Roy and his men together or individually OR Ling and others like Lan Fan, Mei, Scar. I'm happy with either but I'd love something detailing what the season means to them or how they celebrate."

Havoc exhaled, blowing smoke into the chilly air. He was glad of the wool uniform today. It might be itchy, but it was definitely warm.

“Those’ll kill you,” Breda said, coming up beside him. He looked miserable, wrapped in his greatcoat with his hands shoved in his pockets.

Havoc smiled. “I’m in the army,” he pointed out. “I think that’s going to kill me faster than the cigarettes.”

“May be,” Breda allowed. “Shit, Havo, how’d it get to be this cold out? We’re in East, not North City.”

Havoc snorted. “You’d better be glad, too. You’d have the Wall of Briggs to contend with.”

“Her and Mother Nature both,” Breda grumbled. “I’m not sure who’s scarier.”

Falman approached down the path. “Lieutenants,” he said, formally.

“Hey, Falman,” Havoc said, trying to inject some casualness. Falman’s stiffness always made him kind of uncomfortable. He guessed it was tough being a non-com in a bunch of officers, especially with Falman being older than all the rest of them. “How’s it going?”

“It’s a fine day,” Falman said, nodding.

“In hell,” Breda grumbled.

“Hell would be warm,” Havoc corrected, cheerfully, taking another drag off his cigarette.

“Er,” Falman said. He drew himself up and looked Havoc in the eye. “I’d like to extend an invitation to my home for Langnockt,” he got out in a rush. “If you don’t already have plans. My wife wanted to make sure that everyone had somewhere to go for the holiday,” he explained, awkwardly.

Havoc stared at Falman. He inhaled and then exhaled, blowing smoke into the wintery air. “Sure,” he said, finally. “I didn’t get leave to go home, so sure. She want us to bring anything?”

“We’re fine for the Langnockt feast, but if you’d like to bring drinks or dessert, it’d be welcome,” Falman told him.

“Us?” Breda asked, catching Havoc’s pronoun use.

“I happen to know that you don’t have other plans for that night,” Havoc said, cheerfully. “Where’s your holiday cheer?”

“Freezing its ass off,” Breda said. “Are you done poisoning your lungs? Can we go inside again?”

Havoc dragged on the cigarette, long and languid. “Sure. And thanks, Falman. It’s kind of you to have us.”

“Where did you learn manners?” Breda asked, after Falman had gone ahead of them into the office.

“From my mama,” Havoc said, grinning. “You wouldn’t know; you never learned any.”

\------------------------

Breda picked him up just shy of six o’clock. Fuery jumped out of the passenger seat and switched to the back without having to be asked. Havoc grinned at him as he folded his long legs into the car. “You got dragged into this, too?” he asked.

“I thought you were the one brimming with Langnockt cheer,” Breda commented.

“I am!” Havoc said, holding up a wine bottle festively bedecked with blue and gold ribbon. “You think they invited the Colonel?”

“Both Colonel Mustang and Lieutenant Hawkeye are planning to attend,” Fuery offered, from the back seat. “He asked them when I was still in the office.”

“Heh,” Havoc said. “This is going to be interesting to watch. Can you imagine the Lieutenant dancing around the Langnockt fire?”

Breda laughed. “I bet she’s a better dancer than you, Havo,” he said.

“Hey, I can cut a rug!” Havoc protested. “How about you, Fuery?” he asked. “I bet you had all the girls back home fighting to dance around the bonfire with you.”

“Uh,” Fuery said, blushing, and adjusted his glasses.

“You’re in luck, Fuery,” Breda said. “We’re here.”

Falman lived in a third floor walkup in a nice-but-modest neighborhood. Havoc kind of thought that it was a shame that there wasn’t much of a yard; kids ought to have yards. He’d grown up in the country, with dogs and kids running everywhere. He didn’t know how kids in the city managed.

Falman answered the door when they knocked. “Happy Langnockt,” Havoc said.

“Happy Langnockt, Lieutenant,” Falman returned, politely. “Come in. We’re still waiting on the Colonel and Lieutenant Hawkeye.”

Havoc offered his wine bottle to Falman, who took it and set it on the sideboard. “Your place looks great,” Havoc said. It did, too. There were cheery holiday banners and evergreen boughs around the room, festooned with gold suns, shining in the lamplight.

A little girl ran up to the three of them with paper crowns. “We made cwowns for everyone!” she told them, proudly, handing them over. “My name is Wia,” she added. “I’m fwee yeaws owd.”

Fuery knelt down. “Thank you, Lia,” he said, kindly, and took them. “They’re very nice.” He put one on his head and handed the others over tentatively. Havoc and Breda bedecked themselves as requested, and sat down on the couch. Falman perched on the armchair and pulled Lia into his lap.

“We’re glad you could come,” he said. “I knew none of you had family in town, so I thought you might appreciate it.”

“He knows that because he’s read our personnel files,” Breda explained, good-naturedly.

Falman blushed just a micron redder than he had been. “The Lieutenant expects me to be efficient in keeping track of personnel matters,” he said, tensely.

Havoc laughed. “It’s fine,” he said. “It’s good one of us keeps track of things in the office.”

Just then, there was a knock at the door. Fuery looked at Falman, sitting with his daughter in his lap. “I’ll get it,” he offered.

Falman nodded. “It’s probably the Colonel,” he said.

It was, and Hawkeye besides. They were both in civvies, too, which was enough to make Havoc’s head spin. Hawkeye wasn’t supposed to look that good in a skirt. And he knew that if he couldn’t drag his eyes away from her ample, be-cashmered bosom, then he’d either end up roasted or with a bullet in his brain. Probably both. Mustang, of course, looked every inch the relaxed, girlfriend-stealing playboy. The Colonel kissed Mrs. Falman’s hand and offered his gift- chocolate suns and moons in a shiny blue-and-gold box.

By the time Mustang was done flirting with Mrs. Falman, dinner was ready. Dinner was ham with all the trimmings- mashed potatoes, gougeres, roasted carrots and green beans, and a huge wreath of braided hazelnut bread around the candle in the center of the table. Havoc could practically hear Breda salivating next to him. Truth be told, it looked pretty good to him, too. It’d been a few years since he’d been to a proper family Langnockt feast, and he couldn’t wait to tear a piece out of that bread.

First, though, Mrs. Falman passed out the candles. “Would you like to say a word, Colonel?” she asked, handing a candle to Lia.

The Colonel grinned his cheesy grin. “Of course,” he said. “Tonight is Langnockt- the Longest Night. It’s a time of reflection and a time of hope. Tonight, we know that the worst is over and the sun is coming back.” He pointed to the candle in Mrs. Falman’s hand. “May I?” he offered, suavely.

“Oh!” she gasped, and then held out the candle, only a little nervously.

“Tonight is also the night that we light fires to keep the darkness at bay,” Mustang said. He snapped his fingers, and a tongue of flame darted out to Mrs. Falman’s candle, lighting the wick. It burned cheerily in her hand.

“Er,” she said, staring at her candle. “Lia, honey, hold out your candle-” She touched her own candle to Lia’s, holding it carefully in her daughter’s chubby fist. Then she helped Lia touch her candle to her brother’s, who touched his to Fuery’s and so on until Falman touched his to the big candle in the center of the table. Havoc placed his candle carefully in the candlestick nearest him.

“Thank you, Colonel,” Falman said. “Enjoy the feast, everyone.”

Havoc didn’t need more encouragement than that. He reached out and pulled off a hunk of warm hazelnut bread. The rest of the meal began wending its way around the table. Havoc loved ham and potatoes, but the bread had always been his favorite part of the Langnockt dinner. He slathered it in butter and munched away while everyone served.

Across from him, Fuery was helping Falman’s son put potatoes on his plate. Havoc wondered if Fuery had little sibs at home. He kind of had a youngest-kid vibe to him. Next to him, Breda was cheerfully spooning green beans onto his plate. Havoc knew he didn’t have any sibs- nor family, either. If it had been a long time since Havoc had sat in the candlelight of Langnockt, it was longer for Breda. “Don’t hog the beans,” Havoc complained at him.

“Didn’t know you liked veg so much,” Breda shot back, reaching for the carrots.

Falman was calmly handing out slices of ham at the head of the table. Havoc barely knew the guy, really. He had sort of been aware that Falman was married with kids- at least, Falman never joined in in the bitching about girlfriend troubles that the rest of the men in the squad enjoyed. According to the rumor mill, the Colonel’d been saddled Falman after he’d nearly been canned for insubordination. Havoc’d never seen any signs of Falman being insubordinate, but maybe he’d found a CO he liked better than the last one. Anyway, the Colonel didn’t stay saddled with anyone he didn’t want, so Falman had to be a good egg.

Hawkeye and Mustang were at the other end of the table. The Lieutenant was chatting amiably with Falman’s wife, but Havoc could see her cataloguing sight lines and angles of attack. It’s what she always did, when she was with the Colonel. It was like she thought he might be attacked at any moment, and she’d be called on to intervene. Which, on the one hand, was kind of hilarious, because he was the _Flame Alchemist_. He had leveled cities. On the other hand, though, a bullet in his brain would kill him the same as anyone else. Havoc guessed he could understand why Hawkeye worried.

The Colonel wasn’t the same kind of aware that Hawkeye was. He was currently charming Lia, who seemed to take to the Colonel about as well as any other woman Havoc had ever known. Still, he seemed just a little uncomfortable. Havoc wondered if he had any family. If he did, Havoc had never heard about them. Then again, the Colonel didn’t invite much comment on his personal life, not unless it involved one of Havoc’s girlfriends.

Havoc took the bowl of potatoes when Breda passed it to him and scooped a healthy portion onto his plate. He followed it with a couple of warm gougeres, the sharp scent of cheese wafting to his nose. The food was homey and good. Mrs. Falman wasn’t quite as good a cook as Havoc’s mama, but who was? He tucked in, emerging from his plate every so often to comment on how delicious everything was. There was conversation, but Havoc was content to let it flow past him while he ate.

Once everyone had had their fill, Falman took the big pillar candle from the middle of the table and they filed up to the roof after him, huddling for warmth in their coats. “Wook, mommy, bwight!” Lia said, pointing from her perch on her mother’s hip. She was pointing at the bonfire that was lit in a large brazier towards one side of Falman’s building. There were already a knot of laughing, dancing people around it. Falman waved a greeting to his neighbors, introducing his guests. He threw his candle on the fire, and it flared, consuming the new fuel.

“There’s some pretty girls here, Havo,” Breda said, warming his hands at the fire. “That’s Langnockt cheer for you, huh?”

Havoc grinned. Fuery had already been pulled into the circle around the fire. Falman was standing to the side, his son’s hand in his and a smile on his face. Hawkeye and Mustang were standing together talking, their faces contemplative. And Breda was by his side. “It’s about to be a new year,” he said. “Anything could happen.”


End file.
